A Meissen porcelain figure of Harlequin dancing
A figure of Harlequin dancing in an elegant courtly pose on a round earth mound base incrusted with flowers and leaves, half-leaning on a treestump and holding a slapstick. He wears a diamond-pattern suit, sea-green cloak, and yellow pointed hat. Unglazed underside with blue crossed swords mark to the back of the plinth. Restored. H 14.8 cm.
Modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler and Peter Reinicke, April 1744, fired shortly after.
This figure first appears in Kaendler's workshop records on April 1744, noted as "A Harlequin, also belonging to the Italian comedy, corrected, cut, and ready to be formed" (Pietsch, Leipzig 2002, p. 102). This series of figures was commissioned by Johann Adolf II of Saxony-Weißenfels, who Kaendler referred to as "Ihro Durchl. dem Hertzog Von Weißen Fels".
The francophile Duke first embarked upon a career in the military. He was called into the Saxon-Polish services of his relative August II of Saxony in 1711. Following the King's death in 1733, he helped his successor King August III secure the status of King of Poland through his victory over Stanislaus I. Leszczynski in 1736. These figures were presumably ordered in the time between the 1st and 2nd Silesian Wars, in which the Duke was heavily involved. They represented a spectacular success in the development of the manufactory's sculptural production, as they were the first figures to be only partially based on or inspired contemporary prints, meaning that many elements of the designs were the invention of the moulders themselves. In this case Peter Reinicke and Johann Joachim Kaendler.
Literature
Cf. cat. Comedia dell´Arte, Stuttgart 2001, no. 38, the same figure in the Pauls-Eisenbeiss-Stiftung.